Background objects
Background objects are various objects which can be activated with the hand scanner to provide text or hints. Scanning all of them provides the Archaeological Authority achievement. Required for Archaeological Authority Nearly every or every zone: 1. Eye of divine retribution 2. Cross of light 3. Sealed wall (backside door before getting Bronze Mirror) Multiple specific zones: 4. Generic philosopher symbol in any of the four philosopher rooms 5. torude.exe-scannable text (just scan it normally with hand scanner for this purpose) in any of the following places: - Graveyard of the Giants F4, must be revealed by bombs - Tower of the Goddess B7, must be revealed by hitting the lower left wall - Tower of Ruin G1 - There may possibly be more that I don't know about (you can't use hand scanner on the one in Dimensional Corridor, and the mantra.exe mural is a special case) 6. Tree of life/Sephirot all over Chamber of Birth, plus Gate of Illusion E1 Surface: 7. Hot spring in D4 8. Split gate in H5 9. Mural of departure in I5 10. Rocks in lighter shade (Tower of the Goddess entrance before revealing it) in K3 Gate of Guidance: 11. Olmec faces all over the zone 12. Amphisbaena at top of elevator in B3 13. Oannes in C5 14. Ancient Mayan airship in D4 15. Mechanical god in E4 16. Block in the wall (before killing red skeletons to release it) in E4 Mausoleum of the Giants: 17. Nazca alien in D2 18. Wondjina in B2 or F3 19. Cromlech in A2 20. Nazca hand in E4 21. Nazca tree in E5 22. Nebra sky disk in E6 23. Nazca dolphin in G3 Temple of the Sun: 24. White giant in C1 25. Hathor in B2 26. Isis in A1 27. Thoth in C3 28. Osiris in D3 29. Anubis in D3 30. Nephthys in F3 31. Set in F3 32. Shu in E5 33. Tefnut in E5 34. Bastet in D5 35. Rails for blue floor (just left of Bastet; trying to scan the right ones just scans Bastet) in D5 36. Horus in B5 37. Eye of Horus/Wedjet in B5 38. Aten in D6 (can't single jump to this, need to scan as you fall or come back with double jump) Spring in the Sky: 39. Celtic cross all over the zone 40. Large Oannes in A5 41. Philosopher of Wisdom sigil in A5 42. Small opening in wall (Gyonin's shop before unlocking it) in D4 43. Mushussu in D2 or D3 44. Small Oannes in C2 or C9 45. Waterweed in Gyonin's pool in C8 46. Anunnaki in B10 Inferno Cavern: 47. Block in the wall (before solving flare gun puzzle) in C4 (is a separate scan from the one in gate of guidance, and both must be done for the achievement) 48. Ajanta caves (statue in background) in F4 Chamber of Extinction: 49-55 are accessible early-game. '' 56-58 are accessible mid-game while solving Chambers of Birth and Extinction. 59-60 are accessible during the endgame. '''49. Lightable stones (unlit, before permanently lighting) all over the zone' 50. Lightable stones (lit) all over the zone 51. Melted person all over the zone 52. Pharaoh-like statue in A2 or B2 53. mantra.exe mural (before activating) in D4 54. Faint wind in lower left corner of pool in H5 55. Second sigil behind the first (before bringing it forward via Chamber of Birth) in F5 56. Shining red diamond (in the structure you enter from Chamber of Birth) in G2 57. Mural where you use Pochette Key in B2 58. Palenque's mural (before/while fighting him) in I3 59. Hole where you use Magatama Jewel in E1 (the platform only carries you up when you can but haven't used it) 60. mantra.exe mural (after activating) in D4 Twin Labyrinths: 61-62 are accessible via Mausoleum of the Giants among other things. '' 63-66 are accessible via Inferno Cavern or Temple of Moonlight. 67 is accessible after beating Ellmac, 68 requires clearing the poison. 61. Twin gates all over the zone 62. Dolphin statue all over the zone 63. Idigna in C5 64. Dolphin combat vehicle in D4 or G4 65. Buranun in H5 66. Poseidon in I1 or I5 67. Statue of hero and twins in D1 or G1 68. Volcano/pedestal drawing in B1 Endless Corridor: ''Only 69 is accessible before getting Key of Eternity. 69. (Usable or used) Key of Eternity keyhole, any of them (there's one per floor) 70. Statue of Huma (in background) all over floors 2-5 71. 2 door in D2 72. 3 door in D2 73. 5 door in B2 74. 9 door in D2 75. 7 door in E2 76. 8 door in E2 77. 0 door in B2 or C2 78. 1 door in B2 79. 4 door in C2 80. 6 door in C2 81. Sun (in background) all over floors 3-4 Shrine of the Mother: ''This whole zone is missable in a larger sense, of course. While you can still see many of these things in True Shrine of the Mother, none of them are scannable there. '' 82 is accessible from Chamber of Extinction early on, or you can break the floor above it and get it while tackling the rest of the zone. A3 is the map room (which you may or may not get to before opening the main entrance), F3 is the Death Seal room (you should have its scans by the time you open it), rest is accessible from main entrance. 82. Bahamut's wedge in E5 83. Human skeletons in C1, D1, A3, or F3 84. Human skeletons with fish heads in C1, A3, or F3 85. Amphisbaena's wedge in D1 86. Human skeletons with snake bottoms in D3 87. Tiamat's wedge in D3 88. Human skeletons with wings in B4, C4, D4, or E4 (along the top) 89. Baphomet's wedge in B4 90. Viy's wedge in B5 91. Headless demon statue (scan the sides, even after placing Dragon Bone) in B6 92. Dragon statue (scan the feet) in B6 93. Stone jars of Laos in B4, C4, D4, or E4 (along the bottom) 94. Palenque's wedge in D4 95. Sakit's wedge in B2 96. Ellmac's wedge in E2 (this is not any more missable than the rest of the zone: the pillar disappears once you're past the puzzle) Gate of Illusion: All except 101 are accessible on initial visit; 101 requires solving cog puzzles later. 97. Tree of Eden in G6 (you can scan in either Eden or Gate of Illusion) 98. Indecipherable writing (which you have to scan to progress) in E5 99. Olmec faces all over the zone 100. Light shining through cracks (before breaking for cog puzzle) in B3 101. Cog tablet (before activating) in E1 Graveyard of the Giants: 102. Abuto's belt in C3 Temple of Moonlight: All except 106 are accessible early-game via pyramid warp; 106 requires double-jump. 103. Philosopher of Death sigil in E3 104. Boulder trap to get axe (before triggering) in B3 105. Spike trap below map in B2 106. Maternity statue symbol (before activating) in D3 Tower of the Goddess: 107. Hidden map chest (scannable even after opening it) in C8 108. Hole where water later flows out (before flooding tower) in B5 109. Hidden weight pedestal (after it appears but before using it) in D5 110. Small opening in wall (shortcut up annoying tower, before unlocking it, see the map on tower of the goddess to see where exactly the doors appear) in D2 or D5 111. Philosopher of Power sigil in C5 112. Eye of Truth symbol in A2, A4, or A5 Tower of Ruin: 113. Medicine statue in G2 114. Spirit symbol in D2, E2 (not post-mantra), or F2 Chamber of Birth: 115. Saraswati in D2 (you can still get this post-mantra by scanning the bottom) 116. Vishnu in H3 117. Parvati in I4 118. Kali in I4 (picture changes while spikes are dropping) 119. Brahma in C4 120. Maternity Statue alcove (before placing it) in D5 121. Dragon Bone alcove (before placing it) in D5 122. Ganesha in F6 123. Lakshmi in G6 124. Skanda's giant mural/tree in F5 Dimensional Corridor: 125. Philosopher of Life sigil in A5 Endgame: Symbols #7 and #2 are in walls and neither possible nor required to scan. 126. Mantra symbol #8 in Endless Corridor C1 127. Mantra symbol #6 in Chamber of Birth D2 128. Mantra symbol #5 in Tower of Ruin E2 129. Mantra symbol #4 in Tower of the Goddess C4 130. Mantra symbol #3 in Temple of Moonlight D6 131. Mantra symbol #1 in Gate of Illusion D1 Things that you'd think would count, but don't: - Flood, wind, fire, blood/fire tablets in Gate of Guidance - Statue in Chamber of Extinction that warns that elephant statues are sacred Archaeology Dictionary * Split Gate ** Similar to the Candi Bentar of Bali Island, but decorated differently. ** Located in Surface (H-5) * Mural depicting a face ** Similar to the colossal Olmec head at the La Venta ruins in Mexico. ** Located in Gate of Guidance (C-1) * An Ancient Mayan Airship? ** Resembles the ruins of the Olmec civilization in Mexico. A decorated flute; also looks like a man riding an airship. ** Located in Gate of Guidance (D-4) * The Mechanical God ** Resembles the mural discovered in the La Venta ruins of the Olmec civilization in Mexico. Looks like a human riding a dragon-shaped machine. ** Located in Gate of Guidance (E-4) La-Mulana Ruins Dictionary * The Mural of Departure ** A relatively new mural in the ruins. It looks like the history of the La-Mulana ruins is detailed here. ** Located in Surface (I-5)